Celebrity

Joan Crawford starred in many notable films, but she went to great lengths to maintain her looks. The actor even reportedly had teeth removed.

Published on October 12, 2022

Joan Crawford is an icon in Hollywood. She shared her talent and attention to detail in such titles as Mildred Pierce, The Women, Flamingo Road, and Possessed. The actor spent as much time preparing her looks as she did her lines for her roles. In many cases, Crawford had some odds beauty routines that wouldn’t hold up in Hollywood today.

Joan Crawford became a movie star in the Silent Era

Crawford began acting at a young age. First in the theater, then in movies when she signed her first contract with MGM in 1925. However, many of Crawford’s silent-era films have her in small parts. She did not become truly famous and recognizable until she was paired with Clark Gable in three films. Eventually, Crawford’s career would take a hit, and she would be labeled as “box office poison” for many years. It wasn’t until her title role in Mildred Pierce that Crawford was once again someone that the public was talking about.

Outside of Hollywood, Crawford had her fair share of scandal and gossip. The most well-known story of her personal life is her rocky relationship with her four adopted children. One even penned a memoir depicting Crawford in an unflattering, unmotherly light.

Crawford also spent her last few years in the public eye, continuing to take the occasional acting job, but mostly spent her time hawking Pepsi to the public after she married her fourth husband, Alfred Steele, the president of Pepsi-Cola at the time. After his death, Crawford was elected to the board of directors and spent nearly a decade working for the company. Crawford died in 1977 due to pancreatic cancer.

Joan Crawford went to drastic lengths for lasting youth and beauty

Crawford also had a few wild ideas about how to stay looking young and beautiful. According to BuzzFeed, Crawford went to extraordinary lengths to look more youthful by having her back teeth removed. The procedure was supposed to help Crawford have more accentuated cheekbones, therefore giving her the look of someone younger.

According to Bustle, although Crawford may have gotten the desired effects from the procedure, it may not have all been about beauty. Crawford has also had existing dental issues which would plague her throughout her life. These included tooth decay, caps for spacing issues, and infected gums, which actually caused her upper lip to get larger, therefore providing her signature look.

Joan Crawford had many beauty secrets and routines

Teeth and cheekbones were not Crawford’s only concern with her looks. She had a variety of beauty routines throughout her life, chronicled in her 1971 book My Way of Life. Some of the more common tips in this book include using mayonnaise as a moisturizer for her hair, a practice that is still used by some today.

Some of the beauty tips that she had invented for herself are somewhat less common. These include dunking her face in icy water, chewing a massive amount of gum at one time to exercise her jawline, and cleaning her eyes with a boric acid solution that she concocted herself. Many of Crawford’s beauty routines, both conventional and strange, have been depicted in the movie Mommie Dearest and the limited series Feud: Bette and Joan, chronicling the feud between her and Bette Davis.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pLTEmqusoJWawW%2BvzqZmnqakmr%2B1rcinpJ6mpGS3sK3NZpqrmaebvLOwjK2cnqyYYr%2Bmuc6vnJ1lmJ60qbjIoJ%2BtZZOdsqa3wailnqtencGuuI4%3D